Astronomy Picture of the Day – 15.11.2010

I can see my house from here! Another great shot from the Astronomy Picture of the Day Website. And the debate is on as to what part of the Earth she is looking at …

Explanation: There’s no place like home. Peering out of the windows of the International Space Station (ISS), astronautTracy Caldwell Dyson takes in the planet on which we were all born, and to which she would soon return. About 350 kilometers up, the ISS is high enough so that the Earth’s horizon appears clearly curved. Astronaut Dyson’s windows show some of Earth’s complex clouds, in white, and life giving atmosphere and oceans, in blue. The space station orbits the Earth about once every 90 minutes. It is not difficult for people living below to look back toward the ISS. The ISS can frequently be seen as a bright point of light drifting overhead just after sunset. Telescopes can even resolve the overall structure of the space station. The above image was taken in late September from the ISS’s Cupola window bay. Dr. Dyson is a lead vocalist in the band Max Q.

Strange Random Space Quote:

The distance between the earth and her satellite is a mere trifle, and undeserving of serious consideration. I am convinced that before twenty years are over one-half of our earth will have paid a visit to the moon – Jules Verne, From Earth to the Moon, 1890.